Its founding editor-in-chief, Jesse Angelo, was named publisher of the New York Post.

The company added cryptically that "the brand will live on in other channels."

The Daily was believed to have about 100,000 paying subscribers, although precise figures were not disclosed.

In launching the paper, Mr Murdoch said it would need to recruit about 500,000 readers a week to break even.

In July, he announced it would cut 29 per cent of its staff, or 50 employees.

The paper was initially designed to work on Apple's iPad tablet, and only later made available for some Android devices and smartphones.

Analysts said that relying on the Apple platform turned out to be a mistake.

Jeff Sonderman, a digital media specialist at the Poynter Institute, said The Daily's demise is a cautionary tale.

"Being the first-of-a-kind is as dangerous as it is exciting in the technology world," he said in a blog post.

"With few or no prior examples to learn from, you're left to try stuff and learn the hard way.

"Research has since shown that tablet owners are 'digital omnivores' who consume media seamlessly across tablets, smartphones, PCs and print publications. To serve them news on only one platform is not satisfying."

New chiefs

The news comes as Mr Murdoch prepares to break his conglomerate into two separate companies, with one, to be known as Fox Group, in charge of the fast-growing film and television operations and the other, retaining the News Corp name, to manage the struggling news and publishing businesses.

In another announcement today, Mr Murdoch said the future of his newspaper and publishing empire would be in the hands of 52-year-old Wall Street Journal editor-in-chief Robert Thomson.

A soft-spoken Australian and one-time China correspondent, Thomson is a former editor of The Times of London, and a long-time close confidant of Mr Murdoch.

"This is an incredibly exciting time for me personally, and for our companies' ambitious futures," Mr Murdoch said.

"The challenges we face in the publishing and media industries are great, but the opportunities are greater."

Mike Darcy, a former chief operating officer of BSkyB, has been appointed as the new chief executive of News International, replacing Tom Mockridge, who leaves the company at the end of the year.

News International is publisher of The Sun and the defunct News of World, tabloid newspapers that have been at the centre of a firestorm in Britain over the hacking of phone voice mails.

As previously announced, Mr Murdoch will serve as chairman of the new News Corporation and chairman and CEO of Fox Group.

Chase Carey will be president and chief operating officer of Fox Group, with Rupert Murdoch's son James continuing in his capacity as deputy chief operating officer.